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Gov. Jan Brewer and the current members of the Arizona Supreme Court attended the UA-hosted investiture of Justice A. John Pelander, a UA alumnus.

By University Communications
October 9, 2009

The investiture of Arizona's newest Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable A. John Pelander, took place at Centennial Hall on the University of Arizona Campus on Friday.

Justice Pelander, a UA alumnus, was appointed to the Arizona Supreme Court by Gov. Jan Brewer in July.

UA President Robert N. Shelton welcomed Gov. Brewer, the more than 300 friends, family and guests of Justice Pelander as well as the other four members of the Arizona Supreme Court to the ceremony.  Shelton thanked Justice Pelander for selecting the UA to host the ceremony.  

Brewer said the decision to appoint a replacement for retired Justice Ruth V. McGregor was a difficult one but the decision was made easier based on Pelander's distinguished record of service as Chief Judge of Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals.

McGregor administered Pelander's oath to office.

Judge Pelander was admitted to practice law in Arizona in 1976. He graduated from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, with a bachelor's degree in 1973 and received his law degree from the UA James E. Rogers College of Law in 1976 with high honors.

He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Richard Chambers of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1976-77, and spent the next 18 years in private practice with the Tucson law firm now called Slutes, Sakrison and Rogers, practicing primarily in civil litigation where he tried dozens of jury trials.

In 1998, he earned an LLM degree from the University of Virginia. He also served on the Judicial Performance Review Commission from 2000-2007 and has been a staunch advocate for reform in this area.

Former Gov. Fife Symington appointed Pelander to Division Two of the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1995, where he served as Chief Judge through June 30 of this year. During that time he oversaw the administration of the division.

During his tenure on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Pelander wrote more than 160 published opinions and hundreds more unpublished decisions.

He thanked Governor Brewer for the appointment to the high court and also thanked colleagues and family members for their positive influences on his life and profession.

Of the UA, Pelander said, "I love this school and am very grateful for the first rate education I received here."

Pelander said he would strive to live up to the court's reputation as "one of the finest, if not the finest state supreme court in the nation."